


If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It

by floatsodelicatelyunfinished (floatsodelicately)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 21:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5680792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floatsodelicately/pseuds/floatsodelicatelyunfinished
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bill and Hermione have kept their relationship a secret from almost everyone. How will they cope when the 'Golden Trio' leave on the Horcrux hunt? Set during the Deathly Hallows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is unfinished, it has been adopted on fan fiction. net by user Ailith-Kansas.

Bill woke up to a darkened room, it was still early but everyone was sleeping less, Death Eater attacks had become more frequent and the entire Order was in a state of  _'CONSTANT VIGILANCE'_  as Mad-Eye liked to say. He scrunched his eyes up, wishing that he didn't need to get out of bed so soon, and wrapped his arm more firmly around the witch who lay beside him. He buried his head in her neck, into the soft, apple scented pillow of her hair and chuckled as he heard her sleepy grumbled protests about being woken up too early.

"We need to get up," he said, kissing a spot on her neck and pulling back.

"Mrrrmph. Nooo," she groaned childishly, "Ten more minutes?"

"Sorry, Hermione, love," he chuckled, "you've got to get back to your room before they notice that you're missing. And we're getting Harry today, too."

Bill got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom to start getting ready. Hermione rubbed her eyes and reached for her wand. After a quick  _Tempus_ charm that revealed that it was 6 o'clock – she had half an hour before Molly got up to start breakfast – she scrambled out of bed and made her way over to the chair where her clothes were sat. She quickly changed out of her pyjamas and into her fresh clothes – dark jeans with a white t-shirt underneath a blue and green plaid shirt – and was almost ready by the time Bill returned from the bathroom. She was just buttoning up her shirt as he wrapped his arms around her once more and hugged her to him.

"So, today then?"

She turned her head to him and smiled, "Today," she confirmed.

"Good, I'm glad. Not that the sneaking around isn't  _fun_  or anything," he smirked playfully, "but it'll be easier when people know about us."

"People already know about us, Bill. You  _say_  that the sneaking around is fun, but we're  _terrible_  at it!" Hermione laughed, "Think about it, who knows?"

"Well there's Charlie…and Mum, she's probably told Dad," he held up his fingers as he counted.

"Uh huh…"

"I thought that was it?"

Hermione laughed quietly, "Nope, that's not it. There's Remus-"

"How did Remus find out?!"

"Well, I told him-"

"You told him?!"

"Bill, he asked why I smelled of you. I had to tell him, what else was I supposed to say? He's happy for us though! He ran a bit of interference for us too at Christmas when Ron and Harry were hovering over a bit too much," she grinned.

Bill smiled back at her, pleased that they had the approval of someone who meant a lot to both of them. Remus was a mentor to Hermione, being her former professor, she respected him a great deal, and that only led them to being great friends once she got past the slightly awkward "Prof-I-mean-Remus" stage. And he was a great help to Bill who had been struggling to handle things after being attacked by Fenrir Greyback. Although not a full werewolf, Bill was still a bit  _wolfish_  around the full moon and it had taken a while for things to settle down to the few days surrounding it – for a couple of months, Bill had been more aggressive and snappish, even towards his Mum and Hermione – and Remus had been brilliant.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the Fred knows-"

"Are you serious?!" Bill yelped slightly.

"Oh, calm down," she laughed. "He wouldn't say anything. And I said that I was 'pretty sure', he was teasing me about  _older men_  and things like that. You know how the twins are though, it might have been nothing," she shrugged.

"Hmm," Bill hummed disbelievingly, it was never good when the twins figured something out about him. He always had to be on high alert around those two when he had something to keep quiet, if he acted too strangely, he wouldn't put it past them to slip him some veritaserum or trick him into spilling his secrets.

Hermione gave him a quick, yet heated kiss before she pulled away from him, grabbing his hand and tugging him over to the fireplace. She had gotten more graceful with the floo recently as her trip between Bill's house and the Burrow became more frequent, so she no longer crashed out into the living room of the Burrow. She loved staying at Shell Cottage, they spent hours walking along the beach and pottering about the house during the day and at night, she and Bill fell asleep to the sounds of the waves and the smell of the sea. With just the two of them, it was nice. She still loved the Burrow, but it was hectic and busy, with people always charging up the stairs, the muffled explosions that still sounded occasionally from the twins' room, the ghoul in the attic banging about at night. She had stopped staying in Ginny's room last year and moved into Bill's old bedroom. He had suggested it to her when she was annoyed with Ginny's constant Harry worship/gossip/ _didn't-he-look-cute-today_  gushing but she spent more time in his room at the cottage than the one at the Burrow.

With five minutes left before she needed to be back in her bed to try prevent the others from catching her, Hermione stepped into the fireplace. She grabbed the powder and was about to throw it down before she gave him a sweet smile.

"I'll see you later," she said, dropping the powder and disappearing into his family home through the haze of green flames.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that evening, the plan to get Harry was set in motion. Several Order members, along with Ron and Hermione, arrived at the Dursley's house on Privet Drive and walked to the door. Harry opened the door and Hermione immediately leapt into a hug. Harry looked over her shoulder at the rest of the group in confusion, "I didn't expect to see so many of you…"

"Change of plan," Mad-Eye said grouchily. "Now get inside and we'll explain."

Hermione pulled away from the hug and Harry led them all into the house. Once they had all settled down and greeted Harry he looked around at all of them. Next to him was Ron, he had grown even taller and his lanky form was topped by a mop of red hair. Tonks and Remus were standing together, their new wedding bands shining on their hands, beside them stood Fred, who was smirking at George as he muttered something about Dudley's run-in with a Ton Tongue Toffee. Mundungus Fletcher was next, with Mad-Eye Moody looking around the room with his magical eye whirring around in his head. Kingsley stood in the corner of the room speaking quietly to Hagrid who was stooped over trying not to hit his head on the ceiling. On Harry's other side was Hermione, leaning against the counter next to Bill, his arm resting on the countertop behind her back. Harry smirked as he saw Bill touch her waist discretely.

The Order members explained the plan for his escape to the Burrow, Mad-Eye pulled out the flask of polyjuice potion and sat the bag of clothes down for the soon-to-be-Harry's.

"I need a few of your hairs, boy, now," Moody grumbled.

"No!" cried Harry, "No! I won't let you all-"

Moody interrupted him with a snarl, "We need to get you out of here, we need the decoys. If we have six of you, the Death Eaters won't know who to go after. Not even You-Know-Who can split himself up."

Harry shared a quick look with Ron but it went unnoticed by the others, much like the glance between Bill and Hermione. Harry breathed a sigh and pulled out some hairs, handing them over to Moody who slipped them into the flask. The potion bubbled and turned gold, Mad-Eye gestured to the fake Potters to line up. Fred, George, Hermione, Ron and Mundungus stood against the wall, waiting for Mad-Eye to come along for their dose of the potion. Harry grimaced as he remembered the taste of polyjuice potion from their Slytherin adventure in second year. He watched as his friends grew and shrunk, their hair darkening and their features sharpening and softening to match his own. He was soon facing six other versions of himself, who all started patting themselves down before stripping own to change into the outfits that matched his own.

"Right," barked Mad-Eye, "so Potter-Potter, you're with Hagrid. George, you're with Remus. Fred is with Kingsley. Miss Granger with Bill on the Thestral and Ron is with Tonks. Everyone got it?"

The group nodded back to him before Mundungus piped up, "What 'bout me?"

"You're with me. I'm keeping an eye on you."

After more complaints from Dung, the group relocated to outside the house and prepared to leave. Tonks and Ron, George and Remus, and Fred and Kingsley mounted their brooms and waited to take off. Harry climbed into the sidecar of Sirius' old motorbike as Hagrid sat on the bike beside him and revved the engine. From his seat, Harry could see Bill lift Hermione onto the Thestral close behind him before she wrapped her arms around his waist securely.

"Good luck everybody," Mad-Eye barked, perched on his broom in front of a nervous looking Mundungus. "See you all at the Burrow. One…Two…Three!"

With that, the Order members on brooms kicked off, the motorbike roared to life and rose into the air, while Bill and Hermione ducked down close to the body of the Thestral as it took to the skies. They all continued rising when Harry realised that a circle of cloaked figures had started to surround them.

* * *

Bill and Hermione were almost the last to arrive at the Burrow, when the Thestral landed near the group that was still gathered in the garden, Molly had tackled them both in a forceful hug once they slipped off the skeletal horse-like creature. "Oh, thank God!" she repeated over and over.

Bill looked over his mother's head and looked at the elder Order members, "Mad-Eye will be here soon, he had a bit of bother with his Harry…"

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked.

Hermione replied, "Mundungus got one look at Voldemort and took off."

"Mad-Eye is pretty peeved," Bill said with a slight smirk, "to say the least."

Tonks gave a quick laugh, "Oh, I would  _not_  want to be Dung right now!"

The rest of the group caught the two up on what had happened and led them inside where Bill followed the rest of the Weasley's to go see George. Harry caught Hermione's elbow and led her away from the others.

"So…?" he said.

"So…what? What did you want to talk about, Harry?"

"Oh, come on. Seriously? I'm not that dim. Who do you take me for? Ron?!"

"Harry, I really don't know what you mean…" Hermione replied worriedly.

Harry sighed, still smiling at his best friend. "Maybe it has to do with you…and a certain Weasley…?"

"Oh not you too!" she whispered furiously, "Honestly! Ginny has been at me non-stop these last few days – weeks, if you count the owls – about how Ron and I are  _destined_  to be together! Please don't you start too!"

Harry blinked at her, "Ron? Why would it be Ron?"

"Oh, thank you Harry!" she exhaled with relief, "Really, if I have to sit through dinner one more time with her making those weird eye signals at me, I really don't know what they mean, I'm not very good at being a girl apparently because I can't work out this strange eye-code that they all seem to understand. Is it a girl thing? I've seen Lavender and Parvarti do it but really I don't think they should be a benchmark for all female related behaviour since-"

"Hermione, you're rambling," he cut her off. "Anyway, I wasn't talking about Ron. It's another Weasley."

"I-I really don't k-know what you're talking about," she stuttered.

"Give up. It's Bill. Look, I can be your girl-pal," he joked before putting on a high-pitched voice, "Is he a good kisser?"

She slapped his arm playfully, "Stop doing that! Someone will hear!"

Harry stopped batting his eyelashes at her and settled for a smirk, "So it's a secret? Am I the only one who knows? I can't be. He couldn't go five minutes without touching you."

"Be quiet Harry!" she said, blushing a Weasley-level of red. "Only a few people know for certain, don't say anything. Please."

"I won't say anything, Hermione. But judging by that blush, I'd say that you have a lot to tell me, Miss Granger," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her and looping an arm around her shoulders to pull her up the stairs with him to the living room where the rest of the group had gathered.

Later that night, Molly had wanted to keep everyone close and so had ordered most of the Order members involved in bringing Harry to the Burrow to stay the night. After Kingsley had floo'd back home to his wife and Mad-Eye had left to try and track down Mundungus, Remus and Tonks had tried to leave. ' _Tried'_  being the operative word. After Molly had nearly hexed them for moving an inch toward the fireplace they decided that they were too tired to floo home and had accepted the offer of sleeping in Percy's old bedroom.

"Ok, now kids, off to bed," Molly ordered.

Bill and Hermione were the last to go upstairs so that the others wouldn't see them sharing a room. When they reached their room, Bill quickly scooped Hermione up in his arms and deposited her on the bed. She landed with an uncharacteristically girlish giggle that quietened when Bill covered her body with his.

"So, not today then?"

She sighed slightly, running her hand down his neck, "Apparently not. We'll tell them tomorrow, when everyone is less tired and less cursed-at-by-Death-Eaters."

He smiled with a nod before leaning down to press his lips to hers. A few minutes later, they were interrupted by a loud shout from Mrs Weasley. Bill shot up and grabbed his wand, gesturing to Hermione to do the same. They moved into the hallway where the others were starting to gather. Arthur and Remus were talking urgently to one another while Tonks checked the window. Arthur turned to the group, "Kingsley sent his Patronus, the Ministry has fallen. They'll be coming soon."

After a few moments of shocked silence, the house was filled with the wailing of the alarms that signalled the house wards being under attack. Remus and Tonks sprang into action, dishing out commands and orders to the others. Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged a brief look of resignation,  _'This is it.'_ Hermione patted her bag quickly to assure them that she was prepared and with a quick nod, they went to their posts.

The family and the Order members gathered on the front lawn of the Burrow with their wands drawn. The sirens stopped wailing and they spent a few moments in complete silence. Bill grasped Hermione's hand and nodded sadly at her,  _'This is it.'_  The silence was broken by the chillingly familiar laughter of one Bellatrix Lestrange.


	3. Chapter 3

It was over.

That night had passed in a blur of the flashing lights of hexes and curses that shot between the Order members and the Death Eaters. He tried to stay close to her but knew that they needed to separate. He saw her latch onto Harry and Ron quickly grabbed her free hand. With a small twist, they had apparated away in a white wispy light.

They were gone, but the fight had carried on. The sound of mad cackling and pained screams echoed around The Burrow until the Death Eaters apparated away.

He stood beside his brothers, all of them trying desperately to extinguish the fire that was burning from the top floor of their childhood home. Molly was crying into Arthur's shoulder as he too tried to put out the flames.

Soon they had the fire out and the family went inside to inspect the damage and start healing their various wounds. After his mother had patched him up, he made his way to his bedroom. Hermione's bedroom.  _Their bedroom_.

He looked around the room, not sure what he was looking for until he spotted it. The book was there, on her bedside table,  _'Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms'_.

He picked up the book and stroked the cover, remembering the day that he was lounging in the living room attempting to get some work done when a bushy haired know-it-all corrected his translation. When he argued that she was wrong, she walked away. Bill had returned to his work with a smug grin until a book landed heavily on his lap. Then he found out that he was wrong. That was the first time they had talked for longer than a few minutes. They had met briefly about a year before that at the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but hadn't spoken much since. That night, during the summer before Hermione's sixth year at Hogwarts, they talked for hours and he noticed that she wasn't just his younger brother's best friend. She was a woman, a woman who was intelligent and beautiful. He saw the passion in her eyes that evening as she practically bounced with excitement at finally having someone to debate with, they connected in a way that she just couldn't with Ron and Harry.

He couldn't help his attraction to her. It crept up slowly, he barely noticed that he was spending more and more time with her. When he realised his feelings towards her, he felt like a pervert, she was younger, so much younger. He tried staying away from her, avoiding her in the evenings and sitting at the other end of the dinner table. That continued for a few days until she confronted him and he learned that an angry Hermione is a scary Hermione. In a rant that rivalled his mothers', she inadvertently spilled the beans about her own feelings. He couldn't help but feel elated, he had never thought that she would  _actually return_  his feelings. She quietened his protests about their age difference by telling him about her experience with the time-turner. It was only a small difference, but it seemed like an important difference to Bill. Hermione was of age, by her estimations; she had turned 17 quite a while ago. She had a letter from the Ministry to confirm her legal status, which she offered to show him but he laughed her concerns away, happy that he could – potentially – have his witch.

Their relationship began that summer, with the help of this book.  
The book was here, but she wasn't.

He heaved a sigh and flopped back onto the bed, running a hand over his tired face as his exhaustion caught up to him.

* * *

Hermione, Ron and Harry had landed on Tottenham Court Road, unfortunately, a few Death Eaters had tracked their apparition and had waited to ambush them in a café as they stopped to recuperate. Hermione felt sick with worry. Not just about their mission from Dumbledore and the upcoming war, but what she was leaving behind. She had sent her parents away with no memory of her, left the Weasley's without saying goodbye. Only one of them knew, and he was who she regretted leaving most of all. Her relationship with Bill was slow burning and then all encompassing. Over the past year, their relationship had escalated quickly, they spoke every day, when they couldn't, they owled each other. They were going to be separated for months and to Hermione, that felt terrible. Bill had been there when she erased her parents memories, he had been helping her with the research for the hunt and now she wasn't sure how she would cope without him.

They were going to tell everyone that night, provided the mission to retrieve Harry from Privet Drive went well. It would mean telling them about their friendship, which had somehow gone largely unnoticed or uncommented on in such a large family, their relationship and their plans. But it hadn't gone too well, and it had only got worse. Bellatrix's laughter still made them all feel sick, the image of Sirius' death haunting their memories, the grotesque image of Fenrir Greyback stalking around the clearing in his half-transformed state still unnerved them all. It was supposed to end the day nicely, those that knew about them were happy for them, the others would be too.  _Right?_  Looking at Ron and remembering his ability to fly off the handle at even the slightest thing, Hermione wasn't sure.


	4. Chapter 4

Ginny was crying again. Just over a week after hearing from Remus that the Harry, Ron and Hermione were leaving to carry out their task from Dumbledore, the Weasleys had found a sort of rhythm.

Fred and George were stationed at the shop, checking in three times a day via the floo and staying for dinner. Molly and Arthur were at home, Arthur's position in the Order as well as his status as the head of a family of  _blood traitors_  meant that he had to resign from his job. Charlie and Bill were staying at Shell Cottage but ended up at the Burrow for most of the day. Ginny cried.

She stared into the roaring fire, her tears flowing steadily down her blank face. There was no sobbing anymore, just tear tracks that gleamed in the firelight. Bill was sitting in the armchair across from her, his knee bouncing in annoyance as he watched his sister. Charlie glanced at Bill and then Ginny before moving over to sit beside her on the sofa.

"Gin, you need to stop this-"

"I can't! He's gone! What if he doesn't come back?!" she exploded, it was more than she had said since the three had left.

"They'll be ok," he tried to soothe her. "They always are-"

"But he broke up-"

Before Ginny could say any more, Bill had leapt from his seat, "He broke up with you, yes. He's gone, yes. He isn't the only one, Ginevra. They've all gone! Your brother too, if you hadn't noticed!"

Ginny looked up in shock at her eldest brother's outburst, "I know that Ron's gone, but-"

"And Hermione!" Bill cried, ignoring her words. "Hermione Granger, perhaps  _the_  most famous muggleborn in the past 20 years, is with him! They're all out there! Imagine if someone finds them! Imagine if some snatcher caught them! The Boy Who Lived, the Muggleborn Princess and the youngest son of one of perhaps the most famous family of blood traitors to ever disgrace a pureblood name."

Charlie got up from his seat and moved to where Bill was now pacing as he ranted, attempting to calm him down.

"They'd be dead," Bill gasped out, his emotional outpouring confusing Ginny. "Worse than dead maybe. Oh Gods no, she's a she, what would they…? Charlie, they'd… How could I let her go? I'm supposed to keep her safe. I promised her dad that I'd keep her safe. How the hell am I supposed to keep her safe when I don't even know where she is, or if she's ok, or if she's even alive?!" Bill collapsed into the seat behind him, not caring that his family was watching him as he wiped his tears away, hiccupping loud sobs as he tried to catch his breath.

"Bill," George started. "What are you-"

Fred placed a hand on his twins' arm, "Now's not the time. Bill, I think you need to go lie down for a bit-"

"I can't," Bill blurted out, "Not in there, not where-"

"I understand," Fred said softly, uncharacteristically serious for once as he guided his brother out of the chair and over to the stairs. "You can use my bed, I promise you won't turn blue or scaly or anything."

A few minutes later, George regarded his twin with shocked but concerned eyes as he returned from their bedroom. "What was that?"

Fred sank into the seat beside Charlie and ran a hand over his face, "You can take this one, mate," he elbowed Charlie.

"Well he finally broke; I've been waiting for that since they left-"

"But why was he angry with me…and why was he talking about Hermione," Ginny interrupted, tears gone, leaving her with red eyes and blotchy cheeks.

Fred looked up sharply, "Because you've been moping around like you're the only one that's affected by them leaving. Harry broke up with you ages ago, you dated for a couple of months. He and Hermione have been together for, what?" he looked over to Charlie, "a year? Around that anyway. They're serious. He goes to dinner with her and her parents, she practically stays at his house almost every night, sorry Mum."

Charlie took over, "He's had a ring hidden in his dresser drawer for months, trying to find a time that isn't all tense or morbid. He has to go to work, deal with Order stuff, come home and do more stuff to try and help them in the off chance that they'll cross paths and he'll have something to give her that can help. Meanwhile you sit here crying over a boy who dumped you because, frankly, he's kind of got a lot going on at the moment and you'd be a target for being involved with him," he finished, slightly angry with his youngest sibling.

Ginny gasped at his words and flushed angrily, before she could respond, her father started speaking, "Ginny, Charlie is right. You aren't helping anything by moping around. You'll be back at Hogwarts soon and you'll need to start getting ready-"

"But Dad, I hardly think getting new robes is important," Ginny huffed.

Arthur looked at her seriously, "New robes, no. But do you think that you'll have no problems in a school run by Death Eaters," both Ginny and Molly blanched at his words. "I'll owl Augusta, she mentioned something about Neville practicing his defence spells, maybe you could do with some training from her…"

"Neville's gran?" Ginny questioned.

Molly smirked slightly, "Yes, Neville's gran. Neville's gran that was the champion of the duelling club in her days at Hogwarts. My uncle said that she had Professor Slughorn hanging from a chandelier in one session, the last, of course it was disbanded after that for some reason…"


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione lay on her bed; ' _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_ ' open in front of her. They had been on the run for months. Months spent in constant fear of being found, tracked, captured and…whatever would happen to them then. Months spent with her two best friends who, as much as she loved them, were getting hard to deal with every hour of every day in a tent that provided only basic comfort. It was nothing like being at home. She would curl up in a chair and read through her books, looking for some new lead on the remaining horcruxes or whatever that symbol was that they had been seeing again and again, she couldn't help but miss the security that came with sitting in  _her_  chair by the fire, rather than the uncomfortable chair that she found herself seated in now. Although  _her_  chair came with another occupant, one that definitely wasn't here with her now.

She missed Bill. Hermione had never wanted to be one of those women that mope and whine about missing their boyfriends or partners or husbands, but it was natural for her to feel that way. She had known that they would be separated for a long time while they searched for what they hoped would bring the war to an end. But knowing that it was going to happen and being ready for it were two different things. She knew that she had to leave Bill. She knew that she would miss him terribly. But she wasn't prepared for the loss that she felt.

Then Ron had left for a few weeks, coming back after rescuing Harry from drowning when getting the sword and then killing the horcrux in the locket. The relationships between the three of them were strained, yet Hermione wasn't completely sure about why. She felt betrayed that Ron would leave them for dead, mad that he would walk away as she begged him to stay, she knew that it was mainly down to the horcrux's affect but…he  _did_  have a tendency to leave when things got tough like their falling out in third year or when Harry was picked for the Triwizard Tournament in fourth year. Ron seemed to avoid her now, though this could have been because she snapped at him a few times. She and Harry were mostly at ease with one another, he occasionally teased her about Bill when Ron wasn't around to overhear and when the atmosphere needed lightening. But she couldn't work out what had happened between the boys that would cause the odd rift that she saw between them now.

Ron had also come back with knowledge of Potterwatch, and had been working on finding the frequency for almost an hour now. The sound of static and the odd Weird Sisters song echoed through the tent. He jumped up from his seat on the floor as a familiar voice came through the tinny speakers of the wireless.

"Found it! Harry! I've found it!" he called through the flap of the tent to Harry who was sitting on watch outside.

Hermione closed the book and walked over to the radio that Ron had placed back on the table and the three of them gathered around it and listened closely.

"'River', that's Lee. They've all got code names, but you can usually tell-"

"Shh!" Hermione hissed, focussing on the radio.

The three of them listened as River, Royal, Romulus and Rapier spoke to them over the airwaves; Kingsley with news from the Muggle world, Remus with reports of witches and wizards disappearing and being captured and Fred bringing them laughter for the first time in a long while. Time seemed to fly by too quickly as they got caught up in the transmission and before they knew it, the show was wrapping up.

"Listeners, that brings us to the end of a-"

"Hold on a sec, River," Rapier interrupted. "Sorry mate, I forgot one of my messages."

Lee sputtered for a second, and the sound of fabric rustling and parchment moving filled the air of the tent as it seemed like Fred rooted through his pockets for something.

"Hurry up, we've got to end this soon and get the password out," Lee said.

"Got it," Fred said. "This is a message to Bookworm," he started and Harry and Ron's eyes darted to Hermione. "Just to let you know that your Shakespeare is waiting for you at home."

"Right," Lee said slowly. "Ok, so listeners, keep twiddling those dials the next password will be 'Mad-Eye'." The sound of static returned to the tent as the broadcast ended, leaving the trio in an awkward, happy and confused silence.

"I-I'm going to go to bed," Hermione said, getting up from her chair and rushing to her bed, a bittersweet smile on her face.

' _My Shakespeare_.'


	6. Chapter 6

Arthur watched over the top of his newspaper as Molly bustled around the kitchen cooking dinner for those that were gathered in Muriel's house. The only Weasley's absent were Charlie and Bill who were staying at Bill's cottage and of course, Ron. She found that her cooking was the one thing that Aunt Muriel didn't criticise and so shut herself in the kitchen for most of the day to keep away from the wretched woman as well as distract herself from what was going on.

He remembered a few weeks ago when Ron had arrived at the Burrow while they were checking the wards. It was lucky that they had caught him since no one was living in the house as the Death Eaters were keeping a close eye on it. Bill hadn't found out about Ron's reappearance and his abandonment of Hermione and Harry, he was sure that they would have had huge problems on their hands if Bill was to discover that Ron had run away and left them in danger. Ron had stayed in the attic room at Aunt Muriel's, although it was bigger than the Burrow and had enough space for all of them, it wasn't safe for him to be found by anyone and so only he, Molly and Charlie knew about the youngest Weasley boy hiding in the attic. Bill had shut himself away in Shell Cottage after it was deemed unsafe for any of the Weasley's to carry on working, Arthur had stopped going to the Ministry after a few visits from his colleagues that turned into interrogations about the trio's whereabouts, Fred and George had shut down the shop, although Diagon Alley was already like a ghost town by the time they decided to close the doors. Charlie had returned from Romania that previous summer, knowing that the dragons' would be there if and when the war was over and that his family needed him back in Britain.

His thoughts of Charlie were interrupted by the man himself as he stumbled out of the fireplace and shot straight over to one of the kitchen cupboards, ignoring his mother's shrieked questions.

"Charlie?" Arthur called.

Charlie turned around and looked at his father with a troubled expression and a makeshift first aid kid in his hands.

"What's happened?"

Molly was silenced as she watched her son start to pace the kitchen floor and hastily silenced the room in case anyone was lurking about and could have overheard.

"They just appeared on the beach. We were looking out of the window and then they just… _pop_ ," he said quietly.

"Death Eaters?!" Molly squawked.

"No…Ron, Harry and Hermione."

"They're back?! They're ok?" Molly asked.

Charlie fumbled with the first aid kit, checking the contents before answering, "Ron and Harry are ok but...Hermione..."

Arthur and Molly paled, "What? What happened?"

Charlie gasped a sob, shocking both of his parents, the boy got clobbered by dragons every other week, he never cried. "She won't wake up, we need you to come and heal her, I don't know enough healing spells and-"

"But Bill's had training-"

"Yes. Bill. Bill can't do anything with Hermione like that…"

"What's wrong with her?" Arthur asked, unsure if he really wanted to know what the three of them had faced.

"They said she was tortured...by Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Cruciatus?" Molly gasped.

He nodded, "Judging by the tremors, but more...there was so much blood-"

"But cru- that doesn't-"

"No, but there was a knife involved somehow and-" Charlie choked on his words. "Please, please just come and fix her."


	7. Chapter 7

Molly was once again rushing around the kitchen, although this time it was the kitchen at Shell Cottage. It had been three weeks since Charlie had flooed over to Aunt Muriel's in a daze and she and Arthur had been over to the cottage regularly to check on their children and make sure that Hermione was healing properly.

She had been surprised when she had discovered the relationship between her eldest son and her youngest son's best friend, as had the rest of the family, but she could see that the love between them was not childish or puppy love, Bill looked at Hermione the way that she had often caught Arthur looking at her, and far be it from her to come between them. Charlie had let slip only a few days after Ron, Harry and Hermione had disappeared that Bill had a ring ready to propose to the girl, which only made Molly's heart warm as she thought of her son. Although Hermione was young, so the possibility of grandchildren would probably have to wait a few years, she was mature beyond her years and Molly had little reason to believe that she would turn him down when he eventually asked. She had known that they were serious, being one of the only ones that knew of their relationship before the three of them had left and Charlie and Fred had spilled the beans to the rest of the family, she had made sure that the two of them were not taking their relationship lightly. After walking into the bathroom one morning and finding Bill with wet hair, brushing his teeth in only a towel while Hermione washed her hair, half hidden behind the shower curtain, she had sat them both down for a very awkward talk – one that she never hoped to have again with any of her children.

Molly's musings were interrupted as Bill himself flopped down into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. She tapped the kettle with her wand and pulled two mugs from the tree, getting the teabags and sugar from the cupboard. Without turning away from her task, she spoke.

"Did you sleep well?"

Bill's voice cracked tiredly as he answered, "Yeah, Hermione's weaning off the Dreamless Sleep right now but she slept through most of the night."

She turned around and placed the mugs down on the table, taking the chair opposite him, "Yes, that's good, but did  _you_  sleep well?"

"I just keep waking up and having to make sure that she's there with me," he sighed. "It'll pass, I know, but I just can't wait for this to be over."

However supportive Molly was of their relationship, she did not want to talk to her son about him sleeping with a girl 9 years his junior. She stood up and moved back to the hob where a pot of porridge was cooking slowly. She worried about the rest of the family that were living in the cottage; the issue of Ron was bothering her. She sipped her tea before broaching the subject.

"Has Ron said…anything?"

He shook his head. "He still won't talk to either of us. He talks to Harry, but he's not happy that he knew and didn't tell him."

"Harry knew?" she asked as she settled a bowl of porridge in front of him.

Bill gave a small smile, one that warmed his mother's heart to see, "Not for much longer than you, Mum. Don't worry."

They chuckled quietly before Bill's head snapped towards the door. Before Molly could question her son's behaviour, a larger smile spread across his face as Hermione stepped into the room.

"Good morning," she smiled, tugging slightly on her pyjama shorts as she walked through the quiet kitchen.

Bill pushed out the chair next to him and the witch took her seat beside him. Molly smiled as Hermione stole Bill's mug without him noticing and turned to pour out two more bowls for herself and Hermione. The three of them then quietly ate their breakfast; Molly was pleased to see that Hermione's hands were not trembling at all as she spooned the porridge into her mouth, something that was difficult for her to do only a few short weeks ago after her repeated exposure to the Cruciatus curse.

Once they were finished, she set the washing up to do itself and bid them goodbye before flooing back to Muriel's house for the rest of the day.


	8. Chapter 8

The house was quiet. It was always quiet. It could have been the secluded location or the calming effect of the sea outside, but Shell Cottage was always a peaceful place. The only disturbances had come from the arguments between her, Bill and Ron in the weeks following their escape from Malfoy Manor. Hermione looked out of their bedroom window and saw Ron standing on the shore, staring out at the waves. He hadn't spoken to her since their last fight and that was almost four weeks ago. She could understand his anger, but she felt that it didn't excuse his behaviour. If anything, this silent treatment only served to prove that he was still a child and if he could throw away their friendship for the sake of his wounded ego, it wasn't much of a friendship in the first place.

He had shouted and screamed, yelled and cursed at them when he had walked into the master bedroom of the cottage to find her and Bill in bed together. Even if they had only been sleeping, the intimacy of the situation wasn't lost on him and it only took a few seconds for him to put the pieces together.

_'Hermione! Bill! You-you-you're her Shakespeare! William! How long has this been going on?! When were you going to tell me?! Does anyone know?! Have you all been laughing at me this whole time?'_

He refused to accept that they had started their relationship innocently, calling Bill an ' _old pervert'_  for seducing a girl his age, his best friend no less, and calling Hermione more hurtful names that only served to get a bedside lamp hurled at him.

She wished that he would one day accept their relationship, even if that day was a long way away. Ron had been a part of her family since she was 12 years old, seeing him every day without him talking to her was a constant reminder of his disapproval.

Although the house was quiet, Hermione could almost  _feel_  how full it was. It was like a quiet version of The Burrow. Every room was occupied. Harry and Ron shared one of the guest rooms, Bill and her in the master bedroom and the other escapee's from Malfoy Manor were occupying the rest of the bedrooms. The other Weasley's often popped in, Molly stopping by at least once a day to check up on everyone's healing and to cook them far too much food.

The bathroom door opened and Bill stepped into the room in his pyjama's, or rather, boxers and an old band t-shirt. She moved away from the window and climbed into bed, watching him as he pottered around the room before he checked on the wards with a few waves of his wand. Satisfied with his security measures, he settled into bed beside her, hugging her to him tightly.

"We have to talk to the goblin tomorrow," she said quietly as she wove her fingers through his.

"I don't like this idea, Hermione. I didn't like the first one and it ended with you coming back to me unconscious and bloody, this one will get you-"

"Closer to the end," she said.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the ring that she had accepted earlier that day. "I just wish that we had more time…"

"There'll be all the time in the world when this is done. But we still have some time now…" she finished, eyes sparkling mischievously in the moonlight.

Setting those unhappy thoughts aside, Bill moved even closer to her and raised an eyebrow, "Oh we do, do we?"

Not releasing her grip on his hand, she pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of his, straddling his lap, her hair acting as a curtain as it shaded her face from the moonlight as she leaned over him. "Indeed we do, Mr Weasley," she said as she captured his lips in a heated kiss.

Releasing her, he grinned wolfishly, "Mmm. Well we'd better make the most of it, Mrs Weasley."


End file.
